#12

When I was twelve years old our family planned a camping trip to Northern Idaho. My Father was working in the area at the time and the idea was for us kids (five of us) and our Mother to meet him there. Once we arrived to his location, we’d quickly hook up to the fifth-wheel trailer that my Dad called home while he worked out of town and then head to the beautiful mountains of Northern Idaho for a three-day weekend. The plan was well thought out, we had packed accordingly and were prepared for quality time in the outdoors.

Before I go much further, it’s best if I give a quick illustration of my Father. He undoubtedly walked up hill both ways to school, not just in snow but snow and mud, it was so cold spit would freeze before it hit the ground and he was so damn tough that he did this in t-shirt and jeans because he wasn’t fortunate enough to own a coat. He once told my brother and I that one day while waiting for the bus (he was ten years old mind you) he shot and killed eleven birds…with a slingshot. He tells another story in which he was dropped off in the high plains of Wyoming to keep watch and feed cattle for a two week period during late spring. An original old homestead one-room log cabin (no electricity or plumbing) to serve as lodging. He was given a rifle with plenty of ammunition and a loaf of bread, did I mention it was five months before his twelfth Birthday. When told this story for the first time, I myself being in my early teens asked the obvious questions. What did you eat? Were you scared? Two weeks…Really? He replied in a way only my Father could, “Hell yes, two weeks if it was a day and damn right I was scared, I was eleven. I crafted a homemade fishing pole from what I could find laying around the cabin, caught and ate fish from the river and shot a deer on my second day.” When I was really little and would ask him just how tough he was, he would always reply, “I could beat the hell outta’ Mr. T.” I must have believed Mr. T was the strongest man in the world at that time. I tell you those stories in order to give you a small dose of what my old man is like. He’s tough and with that came a bit of a temper; his fuse short, his patience had run out years earlier and for some reason wasn’t replenished. Isn’t that the damndest thing you ever heard, keep it in mind though, it seems you can run completely out of patience – who knew it.

I’m going to be short from this point forward. His truck (A fairly brand new Ford) blew its transmission between where he was working and our camping location. An event of this nature has the ability to drive my Father to a place only few human beings have ever gone. More Back Story: A lawn mower failed to start one afternoon; this led to my Dad throwing the lawn mower onto the roof of our house. In the mowers defense it actually only landed on the roof and then tumbled back to the ground – My Dad loaded the mower into the back of his truck, drove to town and heaved the lawn mower into the showroom of the store he had purchased it from only weeks before. This is just one of many stories. You must be wondering what all of this has to do with music, hang with me, I will tell. We abandoned his truck and camper, loaded his work truck with the camping gear and pressed forward. When we arrived to the location my Father had picked out the week before we discovered all of the camping sites were filled. We had traveled to the end of the dirt road, parked the truck and car and the seven of us were together looking out over the endless terrain of mountains and trees. My Father, the volcano, was angry, utterly disgusted in the breakdown of his truck and now bothered by the fact there were no empty campsites. And then to top it off, at this very moment, two siblings (I’m not sure which of us it was) began fighting with one another. That quickly calmed down but I had noticed the look on my Dad’s face, a look that one knows the very best thing to do at that moment is walk away. He was going to vent his frustration…I just knew it. However, like magic from above, a moment of silence had overcome the entire family and no more perfect time could there be – I’ve said before how large of a role music plays in our family. I remembered a line from a wonderful Beach Boys song, Sloop John B and with great vigor I sang aloud, “This is the worst trip - I’ve ever been on.” That was all it took, the twelve-year-old son breaking the silence with a great and memorable lyric. The laughter shifted the mood and what was heading toward being an awful trip ended up being one of my most memorable and wonderful family memories – we had a great family vacation.

#12 Whiskeytown - Pneumonia (2001)

Whiskeytown released three albums between 1996 and 2001 before their official breakup in the year 2000 in order for frontman Ryan Adams to pursue his solo career. The band went through many changes in that short time but the Pneumonia release was made up of Ryan Adams, Caitlin Cary, Phil Wandscher, Eric Gilmore, and Mike Daly. Each of these have gone on to have continued success in music but clearly none more than singer songwriter Ryan Adams. In my humble opinion Pneumonia is the finest Alternative Country album released to date. Like so many other albums on this list and perhaps more so than any other, this album is absolutely timeless. It could have played well in the 60's and it will continue to play well forty years from now. The majority of the tracks were co-written by Adams and Daly. The record was produced by the mastermind of Ethan Johns, who went on to produce 3 of Adams' future records. Ethan also produced records by; Tift Merritt, Rufus Wainwright, Ray LaMontagne, Kings Of Leon, and The Jayhawks to name just a few. Like Dylan, Ryan Adams as a vocalist seems to sound a little different on each album but his voice on Pneumonia is perfect. Put that together with the beautiful background vocals of Caitlin Cary and you've discovered the formula for a peerless alt-country album. This is one album that can stop me in my tracks, no matter what I am doing when a song from Pneumonia begins playing, I drop it and I listen. Many of you will know of Ryan Adams and the brilliance that is his music but sometimes Whiskeytown and Pneumonia slip through the cracks, don't let it. It really is that good.

Listen to Jacksonville Skyline from lala or check out the live version on youtube.

Jacksonville Skyline - Whiskey...